Dan Shaughnessy on Francona: The Red Sox Years

Sunday

Apr 7, 2013 at 2:00 AMApr 7, 2013 at 8:09 AM

"If you had told me on Sept. 1, 2011, that by November of 2011, I would be jobless and writing a book with Dan Shaughnessy, I would have told you ...; that this would happen as soon as a 200-pound hog jumps out of my a—."

Christopher Hislop

"If you had told me on Sept. 1, 2011, that by November of 2011, I would be jobless and writing a book with Dan Shaughnessy, I would have told you ...; that this would happen as soon as a 200-pound hog jumps out of my a—."

That — an anecdote offered by former Red Sox manager Terry Francona — is but one of the gems that grace the pages (appearing in the acknowledgments portion in the back) of "Francona," the chronicles of (arguably) the most successful manager in Red Sox history (2004-2011) written by Dan Shaughnessy and the manager himself (and please, never, ever call him "Coach"). Shaughnessy will be sharing his stories and talking baseball with fans in attendance at the author event set up at The Music Hall Loft on Wednesday, April 10 (two sessions: the first at 5 p.m., the second follows at 7 p.m.).

Say what you will about the Boston Globe sports columnist (and author of 12 sports books); the fact of the matter is, you're not named one of America's top 10 sports columnists by The Associated Press Sports Editors (nine times), and Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year (10 times) for fabricating unmerited narratives. Shaughnessy has strong opinions and is not afraid to air them when it comes to covering Boston sports culture.

Admirers and haters abound, Shaughnessy wasn't sure where he stood with Francona when he approached him about collaborating on the book.

"I e-mailed Terry the day after he was fired and asked him if he'd be interested," recalled Shaughnessy in a recent interview. "He was reluctant. I sort of expected it. The wound was fresh, and, quite honestly, I knew I was never Terry's favorite. I was just a wise guy taking shots during his tenure in a Red Sox uniform. I knew if we had the time, we could become friendly and create something interesting. While he was manager I never thought to build a relationship with him — That's not how I work. There are a lot of writers around, which leaves little time to bother those that are in the limelight. I went about my business, and he went about his."

What Shaughnessy was banking on was the fact that he knew Terry had time; at one day removed from his position with the Sox he (Francona) wasn't yet sure what his next move would be, and (Shaughnessy) knew there was value in the fact that his literary agent was David Black, who had orchestrated the successful (best-selling) Joe Torre book with Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci in 2008 (after Torre had separated from the Yankees). Francona and Torre — as is depicted throughout "Francona" — had a deep underlying respect for one another. Torre had been a teammate of Terry's father, Tito, during his playing days.

He accepted the offer to help craft the book.

Shaughnessy writes: "As I tossed my bag into the back seat of his Cadillac Escalade, he (Francona) announced, 'Our first stop is going to be someplace where we can get these windows tinted so nobody'll see me driving you around.'"

The book took eight months to write, and was published in late-January, 2013.

"After the initial meetings we developed a mutual comfort level. We had similar (baseball) networks. We had similar opinions, and much baseball banter to share. Curt Shilling was our only real difference (snickers)... Once we had developed a comfortable working tone, Terry embraced the book fully," said Shaughnessy. "He was engaged. He read it (and edited it) seven times. When all was said and done, he felt liberated."

"Francona," is a great read. Sure, it helps if you have some working knowledge of the Boston Red Sox — but it's written in a way that allows you to enjoy the narrative for what it is — an incredible baseball story. A moment in time that saw extreme highs paired with extreme lows. A manager who won two World Series titles during his tenure, and also the worst September collapse in baseball history.

The glimpse you get into that period of time (2004-2011) is intimate and interesting. As a Sox fan you become privy to information and details you probably haven't heard anything about in the media. Which is utterly fascinating in itself given the tenacity and absurdity of the press in their mission to unearth any grain of sand and turn it into a catastrophic volcanic eruption. The media that chase the professional Boston sports beat are (in most cases) no better than a vulture circling its prey, or a sea gull begging (and fighting over) a stale fry at the beach.

The colorful portrayals of the characters who helped shape the success of current Red Sox incarnations are brilliant, and again, fascinating. David Ortiz's distaste of Manny Ramirez comes to mind ...; The way they were depicted in photos, and in the media had them looking like they were the best of friends, fresh off the same plane from the Dominican Republic on a mission to collaboratively destroy every pitcher in their path en route to getting back to the dugout as quickly as possible to high five, flash mutual beaming smiles, toss around the secret handshake, and pound a 12-pack of Mountain Dew while they reminisced and played Truth or Dare in their bunks within the confines of the Sox clubhouse. Nope. Turns out, they weren't very friendly at all.

"Yeah, it's funny the way the general public viewed Manny and Papi," said Shaughnessy. "It's similar to the Bird/McHale dynamic. Everyone thought they were best friends too. You know, they were two white guys who were good at basketball, both from the Midwest, both tall, both lanky and both stars. But they didn't really see eye-to-eye at all when it came down to it. With Papi — he was tired of answering for Manny. They weren't friends. Sure they had their moments, but who wouldn't when you're both a part of one of the most dominant teams in baseball? Papi would continually ask Terry to sort out differences between the two sluggers. It was a constant struggle. But yeah, they were one of the best one-two punches the game has ever seen."

And of course there's Francona. A man who seemed like he didn't have a curse word in his vocabulary when you'd watch his press conferences. Not the case. You get a real good look at who the real Terry Francona is. And that's not a bad thing. He's funny, he's poignant (as poignant as he can be), and he was a mighty fine coach who was hung out to dry at the end of his tenure with the Sox. It's all in the book. The disastrous 2012 season plays into the whole thing beautifully. It shows what a great job Francona did when he was at the reins and that the issues are housed at the top of the organization.

"The train wreck of 2012 was a great addition to the book," said Shaughnessy with a chuckle. "It elevated Terry's legend. He was wronged in the end. There's no question. Ownership lost sight of what made them successful at the outset of this run — of developing players from the ground up and gradually implementing them into their roles on the big stage — and worried more about ratings and selling pink and camouflaged hats to boost the bottom line."

Shaughnessy said that the upcoming author events at The Music Hall Loft will be relatively short on presentation, and long on Q&A.

"There's a lot to talk about," he said. "The season starts just before I make my appearance there, and who knows what's going to happen this year. This book is a great timeline of how we got to this point. I'm excited to talk about it. Wherever people want to take the conversation, we'll go."

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